$108,900. The average wage of U.S. tech industry workers, more than double the average national wage.

625,560. The number of postings for tech occupation job openings in the 4th quarter of 2016.

492,550. The number of tech businesses that have been established.

52,434. The number of tech patents granted during the most recent year for which information is available.

$1.3 trillion. The estimated direct contribution of the tech industry to the U.S. economy.

Trends and factors in tech employment

What are the trends and factors driving growth in tech employment?

Manny Contomanolis, PhD, senior associate vice president and director of the Office of Career Services and Cooperative Education at Rochester Institute of Technology, is not surprised by the rapid growth. “If you think about it, technology development and application is what is driving all growth industries in the U.S.; in fact, I often think that technology is the new liberal arts.”

The leading tech industry sectors are:

Software and web developers

1,328,415

Network architects, admins, & support

726,592

Systems & cybersecurity analysts

673,953

Computer support specialists

603,391

Database administrators

117,638

According to Jen St. Laurence, director of career services at Dartmouth University’s Thayer School of Engineering, the school has seen a steady increase in companies looking for students who have either a tech or engineering background. “Specifically, in the computer software computer science sector, employers have been posting positions and participating in on campus recruiting events at a very high rate over the 12 years I’ve been here.” And she says there has also been an increase in students who are interested in the tech sector.

California has the most tech sector jobs (1,186,500) and total tech occupations (1,029,900). Washington, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Virginia, and Massachusetts also have extremely high tech employment levels.

“We’ve seen an increase in postings and interest from some of the large tech firms – Microsoft, Facebook, Google – as well as other large and smaller computer software companies in the computer science sector,” St. Laurence says. “What’s interesting is that more of the employers posting jobs today, even if they’re not hiring for a tech position, would like candidates with some technology or problem-solving backgrounds.” That’s consistent with a study that found half of all high-paying jobs require coding skills – even non-IT jobs.

So, is this trend expected to wane anytime soon? Not according to Vicki Gonzalez, engineer and CEO of Nexmatix, the first company to introduce smart valves that stream live data. “Just watch as the Industrial Internet of Things explodes – which we expect in the next 3-5 years,” Gonzalez says. “The demand for tech savvy workers will also explode.”

Terri Williams
Terri Williams graduated with a B.A. in English from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her education, career, and business articles have been featured on Yahoo! Education, U.S. News & World Report, The Houston Chronicle, and in the print edition of USA Today Special Edition. Terri is also a contributing author to "A Practical Guide to Digital Journalism Ethics," a book published by the Center for Digital Ethics and Policy at Loyola University Chicago.

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